


Fight of a Lifetime

by TheScribz



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Mulan (1998) Fusion, Edward Elric Is A Little Shit, Excessive Swearing, M/M, Power Dynamics, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-15
Updated: 2017-12-27
Packaged: 2019-02-15 01:10:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13020102
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheScribz/pseuds/TheScribz
Summary: When a war breaks out with Drachma, General Grumman calls for a conscription of one Beta or Alpha from every family in the country. Edward Elric isn't going to let his little brother go to war, Omega or not.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Very loosely based on Mulan

“Brother! Brother, where are you?” Alphonse calls out, poking his head through the doorway of their small home. “Brother! Come quick!”

 

Alphonse hears a loud crashing noise from the basement, followed by a series of clanks and thunks, like a bowling ball has rolling down the stairs. He winces a little, but he knows how hard his brother’s head is. He’ll be fine.

 

“Yeesh Al, what’s the rush?” Ed asks, grimacing as he wipes grime off his face. He rolls his shoulders, which are tense after working on his and Winry’s latest project in the basement. They’ve been working for months now on a full suit of armor for Al to wear, so it’s safer for him to go outside, but it’s tricky figuring out the mechanics of it all. It has to be light enough for Al to wear while he’s outside, while still being thick and heavy enough to protect his skin from the sun and the elements. Even with alchemy, it’s difficult work. Lately, Ed’s been thinking a combination of tin, maybe, just because it’s so light, but reinforcing it with something a little more structured. Plus, once you factor in the difficulty getting joints to move without constantly stopping to oil them, and-

 

“Brother!” Al looks panicked, and that snaps Edward into full attention, quick as can be. “The military is here! They’ve told everyone to gather in the square, no one knows what for yet, but we’ve got to hurry! It sounds really important.”

 

“Is that all?” Edward rolls his eyes and huffs a breath at the ceiling. “Those bastards can fuckin’ wait then, can’t they? This is more important, Al.” He fixes an unwavering stare at Alphonse. “I ain’t gonna wait around just for the fuckin’ military dogs to waste my time. If they want us, they can fuckin’ come get us themselves.”

 

“Please Ed, I just heard from Winry and Granny. They seemed pretty worried about it. I don’t think we can skip out on this one.” Al looks at his brother, beseechingly. Ed notices the dark circles under his eyes, the paleness of his face, and wavers.

 

“Yeah, alright.” Ed relents. “Lemme go grab my coat. And put your shit on. I don’t want you to catch another cold for the 6th goddamn time this year.”

 

Alphonse smiles at his brother, relieved. He waits until Ed turns and goes out the door in search of his jacket, then coughs quietly into his fist. The cough starts out gentle, but grows in urgency and become more spasmodic. By the end of the ordeal, his throat is sore and speckles of blood cover the back of his hand. He calmly makes his way to the kitchen, spits out the remaining blood, and rinses his mouth out with water, before walking unsteadily to his bedroom.

 

From there, he starts by pulling on his first layer of “outter clothes”, which consists of tightly knit, soft fabric that covers him from neck to toe. Next goes on the breeches and coat, both of which are heavy and isolating. These are the first things that come off when he returns inside from any of his trips outside, so he doesn’t bring anything infectious inside with him. Shortly thereafter he puts on his gloves, which are made of supple leather, and finally he dons his facemask. It covers the entirety of his mouth, nose, and stretches back nearly to his ears. His eyes only barely peak out. It’s paper thin, but incredibly uncomfortable, and he feels like he’s breathing in his own stale air the entire time he wears it. It’s the best he can do, though, considering how vulnerable he’s been ever since the accident.

 

Al walks over to the hallway, standing next to the front door, and yells for his brother.

 

“Alright, alright! I’m coming! Hold your damn horses, Al.” Ed grumbles, signature red coat fluttering behind him as he walks over to join Al at the door. From there, he bends down to Alphonse’s feet and begins lacing up his thick, heavy boots, before doing up his own. Al sometimes wonders if Ed’s outfits are purposefully ostentatious so that people will stare at him more than Al, but then again, Al has been in Edward’s room. There’s really no denying that his brother has no taste.

 

“Right.” Ed says, straightening up. “Let’s go see what the dickheads want.” He marches out the door, waits for Al to follow, then slams the door shut behind them. “We meetin’ up with Win? Or just seein’ them at this fuckin’ get together.”

 

Al looks reprovingly on at Ed for his language, but doesn’t comment. “I told Winry that we’d walk her and Granny over to the town square as soon as we got ready. I think Granny’s having trouble walking again.”

 

Ed looks over at his brother, fondly. He’s always so concerned over everyone else, making sure they’re eating enough, not working too hard, getting enough sleep. Ed is sure that the only reason he takes care of himself is so he doesn’t have to burden anyone else with his illnesses.

 

Once they’ve made it to Granny’s cottage (painfully slowly, not that Ed will ever complain about that to Al) and gathered everyone up to go to the square, it’s almost noon. The sun is high and hot in the sky, and the warmth of the day feels like it belongs in the middle of June, rather than mid-September. Al has started to sweat underneath his protective gear, and though he tries to hide it, Ed notices with a keen eye and a frown. Unfortunately, there’s nothing that can be done about it – Al needs the extra layers, and as much as Ed wishes he could just put his brother in a bubble instead, they haven’t quite worked out the mathematics of it yet. It gets Ed thinking again. An alchemical symbol on the inside, maybe, for a temperature control. But how to control the oxygen balance? A conversion of the carbon dioxide produced back into oxygen, with a carbon filter? Maybe he could look into some of the equations mimicking plant life. That wouldn’t solve the movement problem though, and he’d still have to deal with the other components of air – not enough nitrogen, probably, and too much oxygen is unhealthy in itself, and…

 

“Ed! Hey, Ed!” Ed looks over at Winry, who is clearly annoyed. She’s probably been trying to get his attention for a few minutes now. Oops. He would feel bad, but she does the same damn thing to him whenever she gets starry-eyed over the latest mechanical breakthrough, so, eh. Equivalent exchange, and all that.

 

“I’ve heard from a few patients that came in earlier, the military is marching through here on the way to the East City outpost. There’s rumors of skirmishes on the boarder of the North. Apparently a couple towns have been raided by Drachma soldiers, but no official word of a war yet. It’s looking pretty nasty.” Winry looks concerned, and rightly so. “You don’t… You don’t think they’re going to hold another conscription, do you?”

 

Ed looks up, sharp with fire in his eyes. “Over my dead fucking body.”

 

* * *

 

 

A bell tolls from a church tower in the square. The whole town is gathered – an unimpressive 300 people in total. Children run around and play between the legs of adults, unconcerned and oblivious to the somber mood that everyone else is in. Mothers and Fathers try to hush and corral the youngest ones as the soldiers approach on horseback.

 

The crowd quiets and stands, uneasy, before the soldiers.

 

“Attention! This is Major General Hakuro speaking! We are preparing for war with Drachma!” Gasps rang out from the congregation. So the rumors had been true, then. No good could come of this. Ed shifted from his right to his left leg, tensing. “By declaration of Fuhrer Grumman, one Beta or Alpha from every family must report to the East City command by next week to serve his country!”

 

Furious whispers broke out around them as the soldiers called out family names and handed out letters of command. Winry took a deep breath, and gulped when her last name was called. She stepped up to the soldier, who handed her a slip of paper. Everyone crowded around while she read the orders. Winry, being a Beta, was required to serve the army. She breathed a sigh of relief, however, when she read that specialists and trained tradesmen, such as doctors, were given the option to support their country with their skills – as an automail mechanic, she would be sent to Rush Valley to produce automail and outfit soldiers returning from war.

 

“Elric!” Everyone froze, as the name was called. The Elric brothers were both the worst and best kept secret of the town. Everyone knew that the Elric brothers were alchemists, and powerful alchemists at that. Everyone also knew that the older brother was an Omega (though he kept it well hidden), and the younger was frail due to an accident. Everyone also loved the Elric brothers, and would protect their secrets at all costs. There was a pause in the proceedings.

 

“Elric!” Was called again, less patient and more demanding this time. Alphonse Elric stood as straight as he could manage, and walked stiffly over to the soldier.

 

Edward’s fist curled tight by his side, and he was almost vibrating in rage. He started to move forward, but was stopped by Pinako. She shook her head imperceptibly and hissed “Don’t make this harder on your brother,” and Ed forcibly relaxed his stance. A few soldiers noticed the exchange, and stood on guard, hands moving toward their guns. Not threatening, just authoritative.

 

Al walked back over to his brother. “Let’s go home.” He said tightly, and led the way. Ed, for once, had nothing to say and followed.

 

* * *

 

 

“Those bastards. Those damn bastards! Who do they think they are, fuckin’ marchin’ in here and telling us what to do! Like they’ve ever helped us, like they’ve ever given a rat’s fuckin’ ass about what goes on here!” Edward was positively livid as he paced around. “They need extra fuckin’ cannon fodder for their stupid fucking war, and I won’t let it happen!” He stomped his boot for emphasis, and he was in such disarray that his hair was sticking every which way out of his braid from tugging on it so much.

 

Al stared down at their kitchen table, eyes welling up with tears. The letter lay in front of him. Clearly stated was, “Alphonse Elric, to report for duty at East Command. Status: Alpha. Specialty: Alchemist.”

 

“Brother, what am I going to do?” He sniffed. “I can’t… I can’t fight, and I don’t have the skills they’d accept as a tradesmen. I’m not formally trained in anything, and they only ever use alchemists as weapons. I’m not… I just can’t do it, Brother.”

 

Ed looked over at his little brother, and his rage cooled and condensed, becoming hard and sharp as diamond. “Don’t worry, Al. I’ll handle it.”

 

“But what can you do? We can’t explain why I’m sick…”

 

Ed grins, more teeth than lips. “Remember those blockers we were workin’ on? I may have made a few adjustments.”

 

“Brother… No! I can’t let you!”

 

“If they want a fuckin’ military dog out of us, I’ll give ‘em one that can bite.”

 

* * *

 

 

Edward had been working on blockers that would suppress his Omega instincts ever since he first became aware that he _had_ Omega instincts. If he wasn’t about to spend his life ruled by a lack of limbs, then he sure as fuck wasn’t gonna let his life be ruled by a stupid fucking second-gender classification, either. The primary way to tell an Omega was by their smell, which was distinctively sweet. There were other classic markers, of course: small stature, delicate features, sweet disposition, etc. But most people trusted their nose, and so Edward had focused on that first. The drugs worked to block his pheromone glands, which stopped them from producing the characteristic scent, making him smell more akin to a Beta. It had the bonus side effect of stopping Heat, as well, so Ed counted it as a win-win. Ed started taking blockers as soon as he and Al had deemed them safe – so, for about 3 years now. After that, Ed had played around with Alpha scents, trying to find a way to produce them naturally, but then gave up on that and started using the scent as a sort of cologne. It worked like a charm – no one noticed his short stature and other physical resemblances to an Omega when he clearly smelled like an Alpha. Since he was using his brother’s scent, he didn’t have to worry about it triggering any kind of gross biological process in himself, either.

 

Ed was carefully bottling up jars and jars of the scented oils, as well as packing up a few months worth supply of the blockers. The theory behind it was simple: Omegas sometimes posed as Betas, and they got caught when they did it. No Omega had the means or the balls to pose as an Alpha. It helped that Ed had the swagger and the attitude of an Alpha as well – there was no obeisance in him, no sweet tempered mediation or fluttering eyelashes. Ed was brash and loud and prone to violence, with a thirst to prove himself. He fit right in with all the Alphas, and no one would ever suspect him.

 

Ed grins again, a little maniacally, as Al helps him pack his supplies.

 

He was going to raise some hell. Those military bastards would never see it coming.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> People seemed to like this, so here's another chapter I guess.

Roy stood smartly and at perfect attention, eyes on the horizon as General Hakuro droned on in front of him. He looked confident and concentrated on what his superior officer was saying.

 

He was thinking about his grocery list.

 

‘Better get a dozen eggs, some milk. Almost out of bread, should pick up some of that,’ he thought to himself, ‘and some of that tea that Gracia likes. It’s almost Elysia’s birthday, I should probably get her something sweet as well.’

 

“You will be accompanied by First Lieutenant Yoki, who will assess and report back to me at the end of your training, before further orders will be given.”

 

Roy’s countenance didn’t change, didn’t flinch, didn’t twitch so much as a muscle. He was proud of himself for this, because inside he was groaning dramatically. Yoki, Yoki, Yoki. The most annoying son of a bitch on the block. He was half simpering bootlicker, half superiority complex, and all aggravation. Yoki was about as dangerous as a headache, in the grand scheme of things, but such a pain in the ass that it wasn’t worth getting on his bad side, especially if he would be reporting directly to Roy’s superiors.

 

Hakuro droned on. Roy continued to lament, inwardly, shoulders drooping and eyes falling to the people around him, looking for something to cheer himself up. Across the room, Riza Hawkeye stared him down, hand moving toward her gun, clearly reading the thoughts floating on his face. He gulped, snapped his eyes back up to the horizon, and pretended to play the perfect soldier once more.

 

* * *

 

 

“I’m sorry sir, but the paperwork says-“

 

“Who gives a fuck what the paperwork says! I told you, ya got it wrong! My name is Edward Elric, not Alphonse!”

 

“But, sir, we-“

 

“What, you want me to call up my little brother and let him know he’s fightin’ a fuckin’ war now?”

 

“But sir, the records show that Alphonse is the Alpha, and-“

 

“Do I look like a fucking Omega to you? I told you, your paperwork is fuckin’ wrong, so tell me where the fuck I’m supposed to report to. Do you need me to do fuckin’ alchemy? Would that be proof enough for you fucks?”

 

Ed puts on his best offended-and-impatient Alpha look (it wasn’t hard, it was really just his normal face) and the lackey he was berating quails beneath it. It helped that his threat was both true and easy to follow through. Everyone knew that Omegas weren’t allowed to perform alchemy (or learn any of the sciences, of course), and that Omegas weren’t interested in that sort of thing, anyway. Omegas enjoyed cooking, and cleaning, and sitting pretty at home waiting for their big strong alphas to come home. Edward sneered, and clapped his hands together. Blue sparks crackled across his hands.

 

“I, yes, I mean, um, of course sir. I’ll fix the paperwork right away, sir. You’re to report to lieutenant Hawkeye for your direct orders, sir. She’s on the parade grounds with the other new recruits, sir.” The lackey snapped a salute, and turned his back to shuffle around the paperwork, hands still trembling from the confrontation.

 

Ed smirked, nodded, and stalked off, red coat swishing behind him. Kain Fuery breathed a sigh of relief that the imposing Alpha had gone, and went to work correcting the paperwork.

 

It was unusual, he thought to himself. The paperwork was done meticulously, he can’t understand how he could get such a basic thing wrong… Well, these things slipped through the cracks sometimes.

 

* * *

 

 

“Listen up, recruits! This is Colonel Roy Mustang speaking, I will be in charge of your training. We will split you first by order of specialty, then by status! All recruits will be tested for physical fitness first! Training will begin after you’ve been sorted into your respective squadrons. Dismissed!”

 

Roy finished his speech to the green recruits, and fought the urge to rub his temples. The sun was shining and incredibly hot today, with no cloud cover. It was good news for him, since there was no chance of rain, but a man could stand to have some shade while standing in full uniform in the middle of training. The recruits weren’t much better off, sweating like pigs in their brand new PT uniforms, which consisted of sweatpants, long sleeved shirts, and jackets. Their faces were red and nervous, and most of them hadn’t gotten the hang of saluting yet, so their arms wavered near their faces, unsure. By the end of two months, they should all be perfectly straight, attentive, and hard working soldiers. He definitely had his work cut out for him.

 

The training grounds were in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by 30 miles of forest on every side. The point of the exercise was to whip the soldiers into shape without the help of any modern utilities, running water, or beds. Soldiers were expected to set up camp in their own tents, build their own fires, and cook using the rations provided by the government. Each soldier was given the opportunity to make one 30-minute phone call a week, and other amenities would be given out later as a reward for hard work.

 

Non-specialized recruits were sent to the training field first. They were to be assessed by endurance, physical strength, accuracy with a gun, and hand-to-hand combat. Roy had recruited his own team to assist in the training of new recruits, so he sent Falman ahead to plot out the course and keep the pace for the endurance run, while Fuery and Havoc set up the gun range. Breda would be in charge of testing physical strength, while Hawkeye would assess the recruits’ ability in close combat. Roy was eternally thankful to have his team with him at a time like this. Roy had picked them out, specifically, years ago. They were all Betas, which, while not actually a requirement for him, helped reduce tension between strong personalities. They functioned like a well-oiled machine, and he was proud to call them his own. He trusted each of them with his life.

 

If he were being totally honest, he secretly hoped he could find another few such recruits out of this batch, ones that he could take under his wing and train until they were frighteningly competent and unwaveringly loyal. He looked back out on the young Alphas and Betas shoving each other, about 100 in total, calling each other names, and generally behaving like teenagers. He grimaced. He didn’t have very high hopes.

 

* * *

 

 

Edward Elric was not the only alchemist here, but he _was_ the only alchemist that had any actual promise. He looked at the 3 other so-called ‘alchemists’ and scoffed to himself. They were sloppy, covered in chalk, and had greed in their eyes. Most likely, they were already contractors for the military, and had been looking to worm their way into the ranks and get hired as a prestigious State Alchemist for years. The title was exceedingly hard to earn, and was only handed out once a year to the best of the best. The test, of course, was child’s play to Ed.

 

The youngest alchemist there, besides Ed, was a Beta woman in her late 30’s. Her hair was blonde, chopped close to her chin, and streaked with lines of soft limestone from where she ran her dirty hands through it. Behind her, two older men (one Alpha, one Beta) stood, smirking to themselves about their good fortune. The woman introduced herself as Millie, and began bragging about her skills in alchemy.

 

Ed tuned her out as she chattered incessantly about how amazing she was, how amazing the military was, how amazing Roy Mustang was, etc. She used the word “amazing” a lot, and Ed worried for the rest of her vocabulary. After the fifth time she told him about how she fixed her neighbor’s telephone using alchemy, one of the men behind her jumped in to do some boasting of his own.

 

Ed didn’t understand why they were prattling on to him when he was so clearly disinterested, when he noticed that one of the soldiers (the actual soldiers, not just one of the people the government has decided to use as fucking canon fodder) was sitting over to the left, and very clearly trying to look like he wasn’t listening. It was the same soldier he had bullied into changing the paperwork back at the east city headquarters, and he hoped the soldier didn’t have a very good memory. Ed made eye contact with the man, who flinched. Well, it’s not like Ed had very good luck, anyway.

 

Ed made his way over to the soldier, and stuck out a hand. “Ed. Elric. Nice to meetcha.” Ed pasted a facsimile of a smile on his face. He suspected he looked pained, rather than reassuring. He suspected correctly.

 

The soldier hesitated a moment, before taking the hand in his. “Kain Fuery. Nice to meet you as well.” He gave the hand a firm shake.

 

“It’s a big fuckin’ training course, huh?”

 

Fuery looks relieved to have a topic of conversation. He pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose, and launches into a description of the training facilities. “First, everyone will be running a 3 mile course. That’s where the first group is now. Then you’ll be…” He trails off as he notices the first group finishing their run. “Then you’ll be at the shooting range with me and Havoc. If you’ll excuse me.”

 

Ed nods, and watches his new acquaintance scurry off. A heavy hand claps him on the shoulder, and he turns around, startled and defensive.

 

“Sucking up to the higher-ups already, boy? You’ve got some nerve if you think a brat like you is gonna outdo us. We’ve been practicin’ alchemy for _years_. Before your balls dropped, kiddo.” It’s the Alpha, and he looks down his nose at Edward. “Why don’t you leave this to the grown-ups, short stuff.”

 

Ed feels his rage grow, incandescent and all consuming. He moves to clap his hands together, when he’s interrupted by a stern looking Beta, who moves quickly between them.

 

“No fighting.”

 

“Well, I was just showin’ blondie here how to treat his betters.” The man blusters, using his Alpha pheromones to try to subdue the Beta.

 

A gun cocks, and Ed isn’t sure where she’s pulled it out from, but she trains it on the Alpha.

 

“No fighting.” She repeats, voice brooking no arguments.

 

The Alpha steps back, his hands raised and looking a little cowed.

 

She puts her gun down, satisfied. “Get ready. Your run will commence in a few minutes. You are to go through the same training as the non-specialized soldiers. You will then be classified based on your skill in alchemy, which Colonel Mustang will assess at the end of the day. If I see any fighting, rest assured I will not miss.” She pats her gun at her side for emphasis, then marches off to corral another group into hand-to-hand combat.

 

A squirrely man with a pointed mustache stands to the side of them, and makes loud humming noises while writing something down on a clipboard. He tuts a few times for good measure, then goes to follow the blond Beta to the close combat training.

 

50 feet away, having witnessed the whole exchange, Roy Mustang can feel a migraine coming on.

 

* * *

 

To the surprise and consternation of everyone except Edward Elric, Ed passed all of the training with flying colors. He sprinted his way through the endurance run, clambered over the equipment meant to test strength, and backflipped his way through hand-to-hand combat. He suffered a little in the gun range, but he still performed better than his other alchemist counterparts. A good sized crowd was forming around him as he worked his way through the tests.

 

His performance was impressive enough that it even caught Mustang’s attention, and he made his way over to the combat field to see what all the fuss was about.

 

Roy’s breath caught in his throat. The young man was, in a word, beautiful. He had long blond hair, twisted into a braid that hung around his neck. The striking figure wore tight black pants and a red overcoat instead of the mandated uniform, and it only made him more compelling. Havoc came over and chattered in his ear about who he was, his specialty, how well he was doing in the training.

 

“Kid’s the smallest Alpha I ever saw, but damned if he doesn’t spit fire.”

 

Roy stopped. “Alpha? Are you sure?” He’d never been attracted to another Alpha before. Omegas, always. Betas, only sometimes. Alphas? Never.

 

“Yeah boss,” Havoc’s cigarette smoldered out, and he fumbled for a minute trying to relight it. Roy sighed and snapped his fingers. Havoc gave him a grateful smile. “Anyway, you should come check ‘im out. He’s almost up for the alchemy test anyway.”

 

Roy stood on the outskirts of the crowd, trying not to draw any attention to himself, but his uniform set him apart from the recruits quickly. The crowd hushed around him as Edward Elric crouched, panting. Loose strands of hair stuck out of his braid, and sweat dripped from his forehead to his nose while he tried to catch his breath, before looking around, confused at the lack of movement.

 

Roy took that as his cue to walk up to the blond and stood, towering above him, before shooting him a disarming grin and sticking out his hand. “Roy Mustang. Pleasure to meet such a fine young man.”

 

Ed looked at his hand and rolled his eyes. “Pleasure's all yours.” He scoffed, and knocked away Mustang’s hand.

 

Around him, the other new recruits gasped. Roy only smirked.

 

Intriguing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. I really appreciate constructive criticism and reviews! I'm always trying to improve my writing, so please let me know what you think!

**Author's Note:**

> Please review with constructive criticism, any grammatical errors, awkward phrasing, etc. Thank you!


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